Israeli soldiers are relentlessly searching the Gaza Strip for Hamas’ extensive tunnel network, which has been highlighted on a new battle map by a research group.
The extensive and complex network of tunnels built by Hamas in the Gaza Strip has caused Israeli security services to express worry. The tunnels serve several functions, such as hiding command and control centers from prying eyes, storing rockets, and transferring militants, supplies, and weaponry. The system is vast, and some tunnels are supposedly big enough to carry cars. The finding of these tunnels has prompted further examination of security measures and prompted inquiries into possible intelligence failures on the part of Israel.
Twelve of the hostages held captive by Hamas in their October 7 attack—during which over a thousand were murdered and hundreds were dragged back into the Strip—were exposed this month by the Israeli Defense Forces.
The IDF said that it had been erected in a residential neighborhood in Khan Younis that senior Hamas officials once occupied. The IDF thinks that the leader of the Islamist organization in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, is still lurking under the city’s streets.
In the past, the facilities under the surface were utilized for a variety of purposes, including hiding leaders, storing weapons, launching assaults against Israel, and smuggling equipment and weapons.
In their search for and destruction of the tunnels, Israeli soldiers have used a wide range of tactics, including the diversion of seawater from the Mediterranean to fill the tunnels.
A report revealed the goals of terrorist organizations like Hamas were to weaken the Israeli’s morale, political system, and the public’s desire to initiate and maintain a ground offensive into the Gaza Strip.
Hamas put out a fresh truce proposal, in which it would release the remaining captives in four-and-a-half months in return for Israeli troops pulling out of Gaza and the freedom of Palestinian inmates. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the idea “delusional” and rejected it.